Trapping of a Mononitrosyl Nonheme Intermediate of Nitric Oxide Reductase by Cryo-Photolysis of Caged Nitric Oxide

J Phys Chem B. 2023 Feb 2;127(4):846-854. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c05852. Epub 2023 Jan 5.

Abstract

Characterization of short-lived reaction intermediates is essential for elucidating the mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by metalloenzymes. Here, we demonstrated that the photolysis of a caged compound under cryogenic temperature followed by thermal annealing is an invaluable technique for trapping of short-lived reaction intermediates of metalloenzymes through the study of membrane-integrated nitric oxide reductase (NOR) that catalyzes reductive coupling of two NO molecules to N2O at its heme/nonheme FeB binuclear center. Although NO produced by the photolysis of caged NO did not react with NOR under cryogenic temperature, annealing to ∼160 K allowed NO to diffuse and react with NOR, which was evident from the appearance of EPR signals assignable to the S = 3/2 state. This indicates that the nonheme FeB-NO species can be trapped as the intermediate. Time-resolved IR spectroscopy with the use of the photolysis of caged NO as a reaction trigger showed that the intermediate formed at 10 μs gave the NO stretching frequency at 1683 cm-1 typical of nonheme Fe-NO, confirming that the combination of the cryo-photolysis of caged NO and annealing enabled us to trap the reaction intermediate. Thus, the cryo-photolysis of the caged compound has great potential for the characterization of short-lived reaction intermediates.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Metalloproteins*
  • Nitric Oxide* / chemistry
  • Oxidoreductases / chemistry
  • Photolysis

Substances

  • nitric-oxide reductase
  • Nitric Oxide
  • Oxidoreductases
  • Metalloproteins